Bound For Me(11)

He didn’t have time to chase the bastards now, he needed to make sure Savannah was okay.

“Savannah?” Luca was looking stunned as he propped her up. “Jeez, Connor, I think she has a fever or something—”

“Connor?” Savannah turned her flushed face towards him. Her eyes looked too large for her scarily white face.

“Krista, I’m going to need you to go unlock my car and then hold the door for me, okay?” Connor tossed the waitress his key and stepped up to put one arm around Savannah’s waist, lifting her arm from Luca’s shoulder and putting it along his own.

“What’s wrong with her?” Luca asked.

“Nothing that a good night’s sleep isn’t going to fix.” Connor said, hoping it was the truth. He was getting her to his home, then he’d get a doctor to look at her. He bent and hoisted her right into his arms.

“Connor…” she murmured, a bittersweet whisper in his ear. “Connor... King of the Mountain…”

He paused and looked down at her beautiful face.

She blinked heavily, and then closed her eyes. “I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” he answered, feeling guilt twinge.

She’d been looking for him and he’d not told her. He’d slept with her instead. But he still couldn’t regret it. He’d never regret those mad moments in his car.

“I’m supposed to hate you,” she said, suddenly lucid.

“But you don’t?”

She opened her eyes and looked right at him. “I think I do.” Tears sheened over her unnaturally large pupils.

Something pulled hard in his chest.

“I hate them too...” she muttered.

“Not as much as I do, Sugar.” He cradled her more closely, trying to ease the anger thrumming in his muscles. He was making them pay.

“You’re hot.” Her eyelids drifted shut again. Twin tears tracked down her white cheeks. “I don’t feel so good.”

“You gonna be sick, sweetheart?” He wished she would. He wanted that poison out of her system.

She didn’t answer.

Connor tightened his grip and turned towards the back door. “Luca, I’m taking Krista with me. You’re just going to have to manage.”

“Krista? Why?” Luca looked even more concerned than he had over Savannah.

Which pissed Connor off even more. “So she can tell Savannah that she’s been treated well this whole time.”

“Why wouldn’t she—jeez,” Luca frowned as understanding finally dawned. “Are you saying—”

Connor stopped, appalled the guy hadn’t worked it out already. “That she’s been drugged? Yes.”

“Drugged?” Luca looked aghast.

“Maybe if you didn’t let jerks harass your bar staff night after night, this might not have happened. But you’re too busy harassing your staff yourself.” It was a cheap shot. But he couldn’t stop himself.

“Harass?” Luca looked anxious. “Savannah can handle them.”

“No one can handle something like this,” he spat. No matter how strong they were. Connor fought to relax his muscles and not crush her to him. It was so fucking unfair.

“Connor.” Krista had reappeared and had grabbed a container just in case. Practical woman.

“Just get the door for me, will you?” Connor instructed.

But as he paused to carefully navigate down the steps, Luca grabbed his arm. “Connor please. No one can know. If it gets out that something like this happened here? My dad will—”

“I’ll take care of your dad,” Connor said grimly. “But let’s take care of Savannah first.”

“But—”

“But nothing.”

“Don’t worry.” Krista kissed Luca. “Back soon.”

Connor wasn’t sure she would be back all that soon. “You can drive my car, Krista?”

“Sure.” The girl, only a year or two younger than Savannah, shot him a look. “Is she going to be okay?”

“She better be.” Connor eased into the car, still holding the now barely conscious Savannah.

For the second night in a row he held her in his lap in the back seat of his car. Only tonight, she lay limp. She wasn’t the fiery, vital woman who’d ravished him. Who’d been so determined to take what she’d wanted from him. And giving him so much in doing so. He wanted that Savannah back.

“Stay with me Sugar,” he cuddled her closer. “Come on, Sugar. Stay awake.”

He gritted his teeth, stopping himself from screaming at Krista to drive faster. But she was driving them fast enough, just this side of safely. She’d grown up in Summerhill, knew the road as well as he did. Knew that at this moment it was safer for her to drive than him.

Besides, he wasn’t giving up this burden.

Connor wriggled his hand into his jeans pocket and retrieved his phone.

Austin answered immediately. All Connor’s staff did. No matter what time he called.

“Doc, I need a house call. Meet me outside my suite. Get there now.” He rang off and cuddled her closer.

He hated her limpness. Her pallor.

“Go round the back,” he said as the Lodge came into view.

It was a testament to the discretion of his night porter that he held the door with an utterly impassive face. Connor made a mental note to promote him sometime.

“Follow me,” he barked at Krista.

Connor wound slowly up the back stairs to his suite. She needed privacy. So did he. So he wasn’t walking through the front door, not when there were still customers in the bar and restaurant. When there were still skiers coming down from night-skiing.

Austin, this season’s resident doctor, was waiting just by his door. His eyebrows shot up as he saw Connor’s burden. “What happened to her?”

“Roofied.”

Austin looked even more shocked. “Symptoms?”

“Slurry speech, flushed, uncoordinated. Which is very unusual. Said she didn’t feel well. Since then she’s been in and out of consciousness.” He looked down at her and damn if his heart didn’t squeeze again, sending power hurtling along his veins. He’d just climbed a kabillion stairs carrying her, but still felt amped and strong enough to climb another fucking four dozen, just to get her to the damn doctor.

Her eyelids fluttered.

“We need to get her inside,” he growled.

“Want me to take her while you—”

“No.” He hoisted her higher and punched at the keypad with his still bandaged index finger. It took two goes before he heard the click. He barged in backwards, swivelling to then stalk into the spare bedroom. “Come on. Both of you.” He didn’t look to see if they’d followed, he was too busy looking at how dark Savannah’s lashes were against her whitened face.

“Are you going to put her down so I can examine her?” Austin asked, unusually warily.

“What?” Connor’s arms instinctively tightened. “Oh. Sure. Of course.”

Carefully he placed Savannah on the edge of the bed and stepped back only just enough to let Austin past.

The doctor checked her over with annoyingly slow thoroughness.

“You haven’t been partying tonight?” Connor suddenly barked at Austin.

“No, I’m aware of my obligations,” Austin said mildly, not looking up from his examination of Savannah. “I’m on call most of the time. Therefore I don’t drink. Most of the time. And I haven’t tonight.”

“Good.” Connor fisted his hands and folded his arms across his chest, watching the doctor’s every move. He knew he could trust him. Austin was a good guy.

“Breathing’s good. Heartbeat’s strong and regular.” Austin sent him a troubled look. “But I don’t like that we don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“I know.” Connor replied grimly. “Some drug.”

“Stupefying,” Austin nodded. “Could be one of several. Where the hell was she?”

“In the middle of St Clair’s.”

Austin looked puzzled. “With a million people present?”

“I don’t think they wanted to attack her, just humiliate her.”

Puzzlement turned to disgust. “You called the sheriff?”

“About to.” No way in hell were those assholes not getting caught. And punished.

“I’m going to put her on a drip. Make sure she’s hydrated. Flush out her system.”

“You can do that here.” Connor didn’t want her leaving his sight. “You’ll stay with her, right?”

“Of course.”

“You okay to stay the night with her as well?” He turned to Krista.

“You want me to?” Krista fidgeted with the car key.

Connor glared at her. “If you were drugged and couldn’t remember anything that had happened to you, wouldn’t you want some reassurance from someone that you weren’t hurt? Weren’t touched or humiliated in any way? I’m not having her doubt it, even for a second.” He turned and looked at the woman lying motionless on the bed. “She’s not being left alone with any one person until she’s fully alert again.”

Not even him.

Austin nodded. “Good. I just need to go get a couple of supplies. I’ll be five minutes, tops.”

“Great,” Connor stepped closer, taking the space that Austin left. He glanced over at Krista. “Can you take off her boots and loosen her clothing, but don’t undress her any more than that.”